Females now account for a quarter of Scottish tech jobs

Females now account for a quarter of Scottish tech jobs

Females now account for almost a quarter of workers in the Scottish tech sector following a rise in the number of recruits in the last two years, according to new data.

Analysis of the most recent ONS Annual Population Survey shows the number of women in tech has risen by 30% from 18% to 23.4% since 2016, and has more than doubled in the last eight rising from 10,300 in 2010 to 24,000 in 2018.

The data was announced to mark Ada Lovelace Day, a global celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), which is named after the woman acknowledged as being the world’s first computer programmer.

Claire Gillespie, sector manager for digital technologies at SDS, said the results show what partnership working can really achieve. “Industry, government, educationalists and charity organisations have all been working together to try and address the gender imbalance, and our concerted efforts are starting bear digital fruit,” she enthused.

Mentoring in schools; the introduction of digital skills into broader subjects such as languages, art and music; the creation of best practice guides and tool kits for employers, and a real focus by colleges and universities to address the gender gap were all cited as reasons for the positive trend.